Cost Driver Bills Set for Hearing Today
Two bills identified by the California Chamber of Commerce as Cost Drivers are among the many CalChamber priority bills scheduled to be considered by legislative committees today.
Set for hearing today in the Senate Judiciary Committee is CalChamber-opposed SB 763 (Hurtado, D-Bakersfield), a Cost Driver proposing a vast expansion of state antitrust penalties.
Set for hearing today in the Senate Transportation Committee is CalChamber-opposed SB 766 (Allen; D-Santa Monica), a Cost Driver increasing legal liability for car dealers.
SB 763 Raises corporate penalties under California’s Cartwright Act from $1 million to $100 million, and individual penalties from $250,000 to $1 million (a 10,000% and 300% increase, respectively), with no demonstrated need for reform or adjustment, thereby increasing liability and costs on businesses.
SB 763 also authorizes an additional civil penalty of not more than $1 million to be assessed and recovered in any civil action brought by the Attorney General or any district attorney for any violation. Penalties are cumulative of each other and all remedies/penalties available under state law. Such a massive, across-the-board increase in penalties and fines would suggest violations occurring with impunity — a claim for which no evidence has been presented.
SB 766 will lead to a slower and more expensive car-buying process. The bill completely rewrites the existing car-buying process, including: (1) creating a bizarre new requirement for consent beyond a signature, without specifying what would quality as sufficient consent; (2) requiring repeated advisements of the same information, lengthening the car-buying process; (3) requiring dealerships to accept return vehicles up to 10 days after purchase, and prohibiting dealerships from charging sufficient fees to cover their costs/damage to the vehicle.
Staff Contacts: Ronak Daylami and Robert Moutrie